The present invention relates to attachments for vacuum cleaning systems, and more particularly to a device removably coupled to a standard vacuum system for retrieving objects from a vacuum-drawn fluid stream, and for sorting retrieved objects by size if desired.
Vacuum cleaning devices and systems are well known and widely used, in homes and throughout industry. The most common household vacuum appliances are portable, and draw an airstream to lift dust, food particles and other small debris away from carpeting. Other appliances, known as "wet/dry" vacuum cleaners, are capable of drawing water or other liquids as an alternative to drawing air. In homes, this type of appliance is frequently used in workshop areas, basements or outdoors.
In business and industry, vacuum cleaning appliances and systems are employed for many of the same reasons as their household counterparts, e.g. cleaning carpeting, furniture and workshop areas. Further, they are employed extensively in manufacturing areas to maintain cleanliness and avoid undue and potentially hazardous accumulation of scrap or other manufacturing byproducts.
As they pick up debris, vacuum cleaning appliances often collect items not intended for disposal, e.g. coins, small toys and rings or other pieces of jewelry. If such unintended pickup goes unnoticed, such items are discarded and lost for good. Alternatively the operator may be alerted to the unintended pickup, e.g. by the sound of such item as it travels through the vacuum line. Then, the operator faces the unpleasant task of retrieving the item from a bag or canister filled with dust and other debris. Given the potential for such debris containing pins and other sharp objects, the retrieval task also presents the risk of injury to the operator.
In industry, these problems are magnified. For example, an electrical assembly operation usually requires thousands of small, yet valuable circuit components that are difficult to locate and retrieve if they are misplaced or fall to the floor. In wood and metal fabrication areas, nails, screws and the like can get lost among unwanted debris such as sawdust and metal lo shavings. Efforts to retrieve valuable items among such debris can lead to injury. Metal shavings and broken glass may damage the vacuum equipment, e.g. by cutting the hose.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for safely retrieving small objects lost in sawdust, shavings or other debris.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means for removing dust and other foreign matter from objects as they are being retrieved.
A further object is to provide a device suited for removable or releasable coupling to a standard vacuum cleaning appliance to enable use of the vacuum cleaning appliance for retrieving and sorting small objects.
Yet another object is to provide an attachment for a portable vacuum cleaning appliance, removably secured near an upstream end of appliance hosing for protecting the hosing and other appliance components from damage due to broken glass, scraps of wood and metal, or other relatively large and/or sharp objects.